NX 04: Discovery
by sawchy
Summary: With Starfleets NX Class in full production the fourth ship is launched on a critical mission for all of Earth. The crew of NX 04 the Discovery, rushes to complete their mission before its to late and all of Earth reaps the consequences for their actions.
1. Prolouge

Prolouge

2242 Hours ,July 17th, 2156

San Francisco, Earth

It was cold. Thats what V'lar thought about this world. It was smack dab in the middle of no where, and it was very cold. He stepped forward and covered his face more with his hood. He pulled it lower and covered most of his face from anyone who gave a try to look at it. He didn't like the peach skinned creatures, they were far to primitive for his tastes. He pulled his jacket up as a cold gust of this planets air caught in his neck line.

He looked around at the almost completely empty streets. It was late in this planets day and the local species seemed to be leaving the streets and returning to their homes. The street had several large old looking buildings on it, they used some kind of rectangular rock that was stacked ontop of each other to form walls. He shook his head slightly at how primitive these aliens were, how could they have devoleped Warp drive? They didn't seem very advanced to him, definatly not advanced enough to devolep a way to travel faster then light.

V'lar sidestepped into an ally and watched as several peach skinned aliens walked past the dark ally. He looked down at his black jacket, loose fitting black sweater and black pants. His dark grey colored hands were covered by thick black gloves, he squeezed them slightly before turning his attention back to the street ahead of him. The three young aliens continued walking down the street.

He stepped out of the ally and continued walking down the street. The chilled air smelt of the nearby sea as he walked down the street. He continued past several more older looking buildings and continued down the street. Why was it so cold? He thought to himself as he contineud walking. This was supposed to be this planets warmest temperatures, it was terribly cold here.

V'lar walked out at the end of the street and began down a large cement dock. He passed several shack looking buildings and the sound of the water soothed his annoyance with the temperature. He walked out down the cement dock and towards the edge. He leaned up against the docks railing and looked off at the bay infront of him. The water was gently lapping against the coast and cement dock below him. The smell of salt water filled the air and the distant sound of primitve air vehicles broke the silence of the night air. He gazed out at the old rust colored metal bridge stretching across the bay. Its metal looked ancient and even more primitive then the rest of the city he was in.

He smiled at these strange aliens. They were very obsessed with their older structures, he wondered why for a brief second then he regained his concentration. V'lar reached down and pulled out a small green device, he tapped the small screen and it lit up. Its screen was a bright yellow against the green metal it was made of. He tapped several buttons and the device began to hum slightly as he started his scan.

V'lar looked out at his objective. The large alien compound looked very different against the older look of the rest of the city. Its structures looked brand new and freshly built, each had a slight shine to it. There were large lights illuminating several of the buildings entrances. A meduim sized sign was placed in the large garden that was at the entrance to the compound. Its letters were lit up and glinted silver with the help of the floodlights. He pressed several buttons and the screens translator quickly came to life and translated the words into his language. They read, STARFLEET HEADQUARTERS.


	2. Chapter 1

Chapter One

0821 Hours ,July 18th, 2156

San Francisco, Earth

Captain Thomas Laden walked down one of the long balconies at Starfleet Headquarters. The morning air was thick with moisture from the nearby ocean, he looked out at the large body of water as he stopped and gazed out the bay in front of him. The water rippled slightly from the warm pacific ocean breeze as it sweeped up and over the bay that layed in front of him. He smiled as he looked out across the bay at the rest of the city, it was almost ghost like in the early morning fog. His face turned serious as he saw several shuttlepods zipping about over the city and the bay.

Thomas scorned himself, this wasn't a time to be thinking about retirement. To much was at stake now, if everything didn't go exactly right then Earth would have a very turbulant few years ahead of them. With the Xindi incident ending just a few years prior, Starfleet was still at a slow pace. The general population seemed to think that it was Starfleets fault that the Xindi found Earth initially. The thought that it was Starfleet that had helped those things get to Earth was almost sickening. Thomas smiled at the success of _Enterprise_, Earths very first NX Class starship. They had showed every alien species that Earth was not a push over and would take it to the enemy if neccesary.

Thomas adjusted his blue uniform and continued walking down the long balcony. He entered one of the hallways that criss crossed throughout the building and started down it. He walked down the well lit hallway and passed by a grouping of young Lieutenants talking casually to each other. They stood at attention as he walked past, he nodded and they stood at ease. Thomas passed several offices before finally stopping at the fifth office inside the building. He smoothed down his uniform again before walking to the door and pressing the button beside it causing the door to swoosh open.

He stepped inside the large office and looked at the two men occupying the room. One man sat in a chair closest to the door while the other sat on the far side of an old oak desk. They both began to stand as he entered the room and walked over to the one man closest to him. Thomas held out his hand, "Captain Thomas Laden," he said introducing himself.

The younger man stood and smiled, "Captain Brian Anderson," he said shaking his hand. Captain Anderson was atleast twenty years younger then Thomas but his dark brown eyes had a look of expeirence in them. Thomas had a feeling that this man was much older then he looked in expeirence. Anderson had short brown hair and it looked like it was just below regulation length. His uniform was neatly pressed and looked like it had just been made by the factory. He was atleast two inches taller then Thomas was, he considered himself a tall man at six foot two but apparently that wasn't always true.

The other man now held out his hand to Thomas, "Admiral Mackintire," said Thomas as he shook his hand. "Its good to see you again, sir." He nodded in reply to the two men. The admirals hair was a bright grey that didn't go well with his dark blue uniform. The admiral was older then both of the captains but his face showed the test of time, and Thomas knew that this man had been in many battles. The admirals face was wrinkled and his bright blue eyes lacked a shine that they used to have years ago.

"Take a seat son," ordered the admiral to Thomas. He took a step over to the chair the admiral had motioned to, he sat down and waited for the Admiral to start. "Captain Anderson, as I was saying we've been forced to push up your launch date due to recent circumstances."

Anderson leaned forward in his chair slightly, "What kind of circumstances sir?"

The admiral sighed loudly and motioned to Thomas, "thats why captain Laden is here. Hes from Starfleet Intelligence and knows more about this then I do."

"Captain," said Thomas looking over at Anderson. "At approximatly twenty two hundred hours last night, Starfleet security detected a direct sensor beam scan on Starfleet headquarteres. At first, we thought it was just a ship in orbit looking around at our planet. But after we traced it, we discovered that it was from a small hand held device that had more range and detailed scanners then any other technology prevously encountered. It took clear scans of the entire starfleet compound and the area surrounding it."

Anderson leaned back and frowned at heaing this, "why would someone need detailed scans of this area?"

Thomas's face turned grim as he spoke, "when we realised that someone on the ground was taking these scans we dispatched a security team to apprehend them. It took a while but they managed to capture him and hes now being held for questioning. Unfortunely he managed to send a data burst to a ship in orbit before we managed to catch him."

"Where's this ship now?"

"It quickly managed to jump to warp before our defense ships could get to it, it easily out ran them going at warp 4. None of our other ships have the speed required to chase them, except for our NX Class ships."

Anderson frowned again, "why not send one of our other ships thats more expeirenced?"

"None of our ships are in range. with _Enterprise_ assisting the Andorians in a matter or internal security. They are tied up, far out of range. The _Columbia _is light years away in the Delphic Expanse trying to chart that area with the assistance of the Xindi primates, that leaves them out of range aswell. And finally, _Challanger_ is out of range dealing with Orion pirates who have been attacking our supply routes thirty two light years from here. I'm affraid that _Discovery _is our only ship in range."

"Alright, we'll be ready to leave sir. Just whats our mission?"

The admiral finally spoke up now, "to capture or destroy that vessel before it arrives at its destination. This is important, we don't know how much more information was sent back up to that ship. Your crew needs to find it."

"We'll be ready sir."


	3. Chapter 2

Chapter Two

0945 Hours ,July 18th, 2156

Earth Orbit, Warp Five Construction Facility

Commander Kristy McNeal stood at her science station on the bridge of the NX-04. She tapped several buttons on her console and looked out of the main viewscreen across the bridge. The large arms of the warp five facility wrapped past them and made a large coil effect around the vessel. She looked past the red constructions arms and at the planet rotating below them. It was a bright blue and the land masses didn't have a sign of any cloud cover. It was mostly a perfect day back on Earth, except for what looked like a hurricane developing near Haiti.

Why had she been called up during her leave? She thought to herself, she had been doing sight seeing in western Europe when they contacted her. She had just arrived in Paris when they picked her up, they said that she was needed up on _Discovery_. They weren't scheduled to leave for two months but everything was in order onboard. It seemed the entire crew was called up here this morning and were supposed to check all systems and make sure she was ready for flight. But why?

"Commander," said a young Ensign manning the communications station inturrupting her thoughts. "We have two shuttlepods inbound and they're requesting permission to dock in our launch bay. Should I tell them that their clear to land?"

Kristy nodded her head, "tell them their clear to land," replied Kristy to the Ensign. "Who are those shuttlepods carrying?"

The Ensign pressed several buttons and waited for the transmission to be sent to the shuttlepods then a reply to be sent back. It took almost twenty seconds to happen, "the first pod has Captain Anderson, Lieutenant Johnson, Lieutenant Sanchez, and Ensign Kewolski. The other pod has Lieutenant Commander Lance, the last of Lieutenant Ramirez's medical staff, Captain Mcknight and the last of our MACO contingent."

Kristy nodded and exhaled, "i'll be in the launch bay. You have the bridge," said Kristy getting up and walking to the turbolift beside her. She entered it and tapped the button to go to E deck. The lift hummed to life as she began to descend.

* * *

"Were almost there," said Lieutenant Elizabeth Sanchez as she piloted around a group of workbees carrying large amounts of airtight canisters. 

"Thank you, Lieutenant," said the older Captain Anderson from behind her in one of the co-pilots chairs.

Elizabeth moved the shuttlepod around another group of workbees and continued to move towards the large orange colored dock in orbit. The grey hull of the _Discovery_ could clearly be seen through the arms surrounding it. The long necels stretched out from the primary hull of the ship and gave the ship its sleek looking design.

She couldn't help but smile at the thought of piloting that beauty. This was what she worked her whole life for, to be a pilot in starfleet. Now thanks to her work, she was about to pilot the one of the fastest ships ever created by humanity. She did a pass around the right side of the construction faciliy and looked out at the ship that layed before her. They passed by the warp necels and moved forward along her hull. The smooth grey hull of the saucer came around and the brand new paint on her came into view. The letters streaked across its hull made her smile, **NX-04 _Discovery_**. She continued gazing at the ship as they passed around the bow of the vessel and started moving toward its aft again. The long necels were grey and looked dead compared to the other photos of the NX Class ships she'd seen.

"Shes a thing of beauty isn't she?"

Elizabeth straightened slightly at the captains words, "yes she is sir."

"Yeah, I think every one of these ships are beautiful. A true example of great human engineering," said the captain from behind her.

Elizabeth smiled and brought the ship around the dock. She piloted it around the rear section of the ship and waited as the second shuttle pod was starting its landing sequence. The small shuttle pod approached the ship and slowed to a halt, plooms of gas could be seen as the pod tried to not move with its thrusters. The launch bay door opened and a large grey metallic arm exited the bay and latched onto the top surface of the shuttle pod and slowly began to pull it inside.

"Shuttle pod two, you are clear for your docking sequence," said a mans voice over the speakers placed next to Elizabeths head.

"Copy that_, Discovery_. Were starting our sequence now," replied Elizabeth while moving the small ship forward. The large grey hull of the _Discovery_ loomed closer as they approached they're starboard launch bay. They manuavered under their right necel and approached the bay. The doors began to open as they took position underneath the open door. Elizabeth turned around, "it may get a bit bumpy here sir."

The ship shook as the large extending arm latched onto the hull and began to pull the small shuttlepod inside the ship. The stars moved in an unnatural way as they climbed inside the launch bay. The exterior hull passed by the cockpit and the small ship was raised inside the bay. They waited as the large doors closed and created a secured seal in the bay. Elizabeth turned and looked at the other people in the shuttle pod. There was nine others in total, it was a cramped ride up to the ship. The trip took them almost ten minutes, but she could feel the excitement flowing through her now.

"We've docked. Now we just have to wait for the bay to pressurize," she reported to her captain who sat looking out the front windshield at the bay wall. They sat in silence as a hiss grew from around them, they waited for the hiss to disappear and the console to alert them to its atmosphere. "Alright, we can exit the pod now. Everyone in the rear section first," she said to everyone in the rear quarter of the pod.

They slowly began to exit the shuttle as the four officers waited for the crewmen to leave. They all sat in silence as they waited, it felt more then a bit awkward with the other officers looking at her. "Good piloting Lieutenant," said the Captain looking at her now.

"Thank you sir," she said as the last two crewmen in the rear compartment moved up and out the hatches on both sides. They left and stepped on the catwalks that led back onto E deck. Elizabeth smiled and looked at the captain, "its time for you to see your ship sir."


	4. Chapter 3

Chapter Three

0953 Hours ,July 18th, 2156

Earth Orbit, Warp Five Construction Facility

Captain Brian Anderson stepped through the shuttle pods hatch and onto the large metal catwalk. It clanked under his standard issue boots as he pulled himself up and out. Brian adjusted his pack as he finally stood up on the metal catwalk. He looked around at the pressurized launch bay, the walls were grey and made of a hard thick metallic material.

"Captain Anderson, I'm commander McNeal," said a young woman walking down the catwalk towards him. Her hand was outstretched and was waiting for his handshake. Brian took her hand and squeezed as she spoke, "welcome to the _Discovery _sir"

The commander was more then a few years younger then himself. She was atleast five foot six and had her light brown hair was tightly tied back into a bun. She had steely blue eyes that almost looked grey, her face looked soft compared to them. Her uniform was crisp and looked perfect, not one wrinkle could be seen on it. She had rookie wrote all over, this was quite obviously her first deep space assignment. She still had the, fresh from the academy look to her face, her eyes were still young looking despite there first impression coldness.

"Its good to be here, commander. Are preparations going well?"

"Most departments are reporting as fully ready for space travel sir," she reported stepping to the side and allowing him to pass. Brian walked past her and through the open hatch leading to E deck. The commander walked briskly to catch up and walked at the same pace as him. She walked beside him as they both went down the corridor towards crew quarters. They're boots clunked against the grav plating as they walked.

"I want the ship ready to leave orbit in half an hour," said Brian walking past a crewman working on a console. The Commander nodded and turned away, she walked back down the corridor towards the nearest turbo lift.

Brian walked up to his quarters and pressed the button beside his door. His door hissed as it slid open and he stepped through into his quarters. He walked over to his bed setting the pack down which he carried over his shoulder on the freshly made bed, the blanket covering the bed was a dull grey color and looked like it was made from a fleece material. He shook his head as he thought, Why do they use that cheap material?

Brian looked over to his desk and saw the computer screen was lit up, the screen was dark except for its screensaver. The emblem of the _Discovery _rotated in the middle of the screen. It was the picture of the NX Class flying through a large red ring with seven stars scattered around the ring that cut through the center of the patch. It was finished off by having a yellow border that went all the way around the picture.

He walked over to his desk and sat down on the rolling chair that was tucked underneath. He turned and looked out of the window on the far side of his quarters wall. The redish orange arms of the docking station obscured the view of Earth below them as they wrapped themselves around the hull. The bright blue of the oceans shined through the cracks in the red rings that surrounded the ship.

"I'm finally here," he said to himself smiling. He had worked for so long to get on board this ship, he had worked most of his adult life in starfleet to get here. This was what all his work had gotten him, the fourth NX Class ship. The fourth fastest ship to ever be produced by humanity, he was lucky he had gotten this command and he knew it. For a while Brian had his doubts about ever getting a ship to command, he didn't want one of the older Intrepid class ships but he would of settled at this point.

He was just forty six years old, and he had just gotten the job of someone three quarters of his age should have gotten. All the other captains of the NX Class ships were a few years younger then him. Even Archer was younger then him, and he was considered almost to old for command. But thankfully with all the work he had done, he had proved himself still capable to command a ship and now he was finally getting to accomplish his dream. He was lucky and he knew it. That thought made him smile.

* * *

Cheif Engineer Lieutenant Commander Alex Lance jumped down off of the catwalk in front of the warp reactor. He landed with a loud clang and looked over at an Ensign to his left who was under his command. "Whats the status of that injector installation?" 

The ensign pressed several buttons and he quickly closed the open injector assembly. The young ensign had brown hair and was very young, he smiled as spoke. "I just finished the installation."

Alex looked at the young ensign then at the closed conduit, then back at the ensign, "did you double check and make sure they're installed properly?"

"Yes, sir," he replied looking at him then moving to a console. "Everything is ready, the only thing left is to power up the reactor."

Alex looked over at two more young officers to his right, they were monitoring and checking all ship systems before they intallized the warp reactor. The senoir Lieutenant of the two looked at him and she gave him a nod while speaking, "were ready to start the reactor up." Alex nodded and climbed back onto the catwalk and began to punch several buttons on the reactors control console. He pressed several buttons on the monitors and a warning screen popped up on his monitor. It read, **Caution: Warp Reactor Initialization Sequence Activated. Allow? Cancel?**

Alex stood for a second gazing at the words, this was it. This was the first time the warp core was being turned on while onboard the _Discovery. _He frowned as the thought of the warp reactor malfunctioning and going critical. All it would take was one misaligned component or an out of place peice of machinery, and the whole ship would go up. Oh well, he thought. If it goes up, I won't know it.

He reached over and tapped the comm button, "Control this is _Discovery,_ were about to power up our warp reactor. Confirm that all personel and vehicles have moved to safe distance?"

The comm was quiet for a few seconds as the command staff double checked their perimeter around the ship. The comm came to life with their reply, "Confirmed. Commence engine start up."

He used his right index finger to press the allow button and the ship shook slightly as the engines roared to life for the first time. A slight vibration shook the catwalk under Alex's feet and he looked around at the shaking ship. He leaned out and yelled down the reactor to a young woman crewman, "Kie, watch that flow rate and intermix ratio!"

"Yes sir," she called back as the ships vibrations continued to shake the floor. She ran to a console and began to press buttons frantically, it beeped in reply to her inquirys. The ships vibrations slowly began to subside and the floor finally stopped bouncing. "The flow rate and intermix ratios are in the green sir," she called back to him.

The entire engine room fell silent as the large rust colored metal device quietly began to hum. The two large anti-matter supply tubes now glowed orange as the anti-matter was pushed out and towards the two neceles. The raw energy pushed its way through the small tubes and back into the neceles where the power was channeled and the necels began to glow blue. The large intakes on the front of the neceles now began to glow red as the power was now controlled and the ship was ready for warp travel.

Alex climbed down from the catwalk once again, he looked down at Kie and at the other crewmen in the engine room. "Good work, everybody." Alex smiled as the other crewmen clapped and returned to their duties, he walked over to the comm unit on the wall and pressed the small white button. "Control, start up complete," he said to the small device.


	5. Chapter 4

Chapter Four

1016 Hours ,July 18th, 2156

Earth Orbit, Warp Five Construction Facility

Commander Kristy McNeal stepped off of the lift and onto the bridge. She walked over to her science station to the rear left of the captains chair and sat down at her station. The last of the senior staff was now onboard and was examining each of their own stations. Kristy sat down on her chair and looked around at the new faces. She had not been able to meet with each of the other senior staff like the captain had been able to.

She looked at the man who was punching buttons at the tactical station. The Lieutenant was a new face onboard, he must of come up on those last two shuttle pods. She thought to herself pressing a button on her console bringing up the crew manifest. Beside each of the eighty names was a picture of the crewmen and pretty much every little detail of the persons life. She scrolled down the list of names with her finger on the screen, she gazed at each of the pictures until finally resting on the man across the bridge.

She looked back up and over at him. He was focused on whatever task he was doing at his station, he was probably in his mid twenties and looked like he could handle himself in a fight. His blond hair was cut short and looked like it was exactly the length that starfleet used as the limit. His eyes had a steely grey to them, he looked like a man of many secrets to her. The Lieutenant looked like he was about the same height as her when he sat at his station.

Kristy gazed back down at the picture and info, he was just twenty two years old and had graduated the academy. He was very young for a Lieutenant, she hoped this wouldn't be a problem. His picture didn't have a smile on it, I wonder why? She thought to herself glancing back up at the Lieutenant. He wasn't smiling either, his face was stern and focused on the job at hand.

"Commander?"

Kristy was startled to have her own thoughts interrupted by someone. She looked up and saw that it was Captain Anderson, he had walked onto the bridge from the turbolift behind her station. He walked down the steps and towards his chair in the center of the bridge. "Yes, sir?"

The captain sat in his chair and gave it a slight shake, it didn't sway in the least. He smiled and looked over at Kristy, "Are we ready to depart?"

Kristy looked down at her screen and checked the status of each department throughout the ship. She checked hers first, the science department was accounted for and ready to go. She checked tactical second, they were ready. Then Engineering and medical, both were ready to depart. Kristy looked up at the captain, "every department reports ready for departure."

He nodded and continued smiling as he looked at the main viewscreen, "take us out."

Lieutenant Sanchez nodded and turned in her chair, she looked at the controls for a second then began to push buttons. It beeped with every press of the buttons, she pressed several more then took hold of the small joystick placed in front of her. Kristy caught herself staring and hoped no one else had seen how long she had been watching the young lieutenant. She looked to be in her mid twenties and looked younger then she was. She had long brown hair that was tied back into a bun and large brown eyes. Her skin was a slightly darker tinge of white then the rest of the bridge crew, it was a sign of her Cuban decent.

The lieutenant at the helm smiled as she pushed the thrusters power output up. The ships viewscreen slowly began to move forward as it slowly puttered out of spacedock. The large rust colored arms of the facility slowly moved towards the aft section of the ship, the giant planet beneath them slowly began to move away from _Discovery._ Kristy felt a wave of uneasy ness set over her as she watched the arms of the warp five facility move off of the viewscreen. This was it, she was finally leaving Earth for the first time. She unconsciously smiled at the happy thoughts.

* * *

Captain Thomas Laden watched the satelitte feed of the _Discovery _leaving the Warp Five Facility. Its grey hull stood out against the endless black vaccum of space, it slowly exited the red rib like starbase and moved into space. It slowly moved forward and Thomas found himself wondering if he was doing the right thing. This could be bad for him, hell it could be bad for all of Earth. Maybe if he quickly called the control station they would stop them from going.

"Now isn't the time for doubts, Mister Laden," said a calm voice from behind him. Thomas turned and looked at the man sitting behind the table across the room. He had a smile twisted across his round face, he watched Thomas with a smile. He knew what he had been thinking, he knew exaclty what Thomas wanted to do. "Remember, this is for the best. If not for you captain, then for all of Earth. This is just the beginning of what is to come. So don't get cold feet yet."

Thomas felt a wave of guilt, he walked forward and sat in a chair at the table. He reached forward and tapped a button on the computer sitting on the table top. He checked the course of the _Discovery_ and gave a smile of uncertainty to the man sitting across the table from him. "Maybe your right, this might be for the best."

"Of course it is," he said leaning forward. "This will finally draw them out of the shadows and force them into action, it will finally bring this to an end. So don't-."

Thomas spoke without waiting for the man to finish, "but what if this draws us into something we're not ready for."

The mans face twisted into a smile again, "we're ready Thomas. We've been ready ever since the Xindi came here. We can't let them be the next Xindi and hit us first. So don't forget that what were doing is for the good of all of Earth."


	6. Chapter 5

Chapter Five

1541 Hours ,July 18th, 2156

Deep Space, Five Hours Into Mission

Captain Brian Anderson sat in his ready room gazing at the video of the prisoner. He was an alien that hadn't been encountered before, his skin was a dark shade of grey and his eyes were a dark black color. His face had several bones sticking out sharply from his cheekbones, it reminded him of pictures he had seen of some sort of fish back on Earth. Brian watched the image of the alien struggling as four starfleet security officers dragged him to his cell. They threw him inside the small glass walled space and quickly moved out of the cell before the alien could get back to his feet. The door closed as the alien got to his feet and he began to pound on the glass with fists balled up in outrage.

It had been five hours since they had left Earth space, they were now on the trail of the alien ship that warped away from Earth. With all luck the aliens would get cocky and not even bother to mask their warp signature. After all, Earth didn't have any ships that could keep up.

Brian turned the video off and sat back in his chair, _what was this alien doing?_ He thought to himself as he reached over to a glass of luke warm coffee sitting on his desk. It was cold from sitting so long, he frowned and put it back on his desk with a sigh. Brian leaned forward and tapped several buttons on his screen, the image changed and the visual of the alien ship appeared on the small screen. The ship had a large tirangular front and its hull was a dark black color, it had two long necelles that extended back along the length of the ship. They were latched to the hull in what almost looked like an after thought.

Brian leaned back and looked up at his ceiling, he placed his hands over his eyes and thought about what he could do. There was nothing he could do until they found this ship, it was the key that they needed to find out what was going on.

* * *

Lieutenant Mike Johnson looked at the phase pistol sitting open on the table, its power cell was laying next to it. Mike frowned and looked over at the ensign checking the phase pistol power cells across the armory from the small work table that came up from the floor. It was a new feature that was first install on the _Discovery_ and already Mike was starting to hate this feature.

"Ensign," he said with a sharp snap. The young man turned and stood at attention at seeing the higher ranking officer standing behind him next to the weapon he had lazily left on the table. "Protical twenty two dash three, states that no weapon is to be left unsecure onboard a starship. Can you tell me why this weapon is here?"

The ensign looked at the weapon and back at Mike, he opened his mouth to say something but quickly closed his mouth. He stood for a moment before speaking finally, "in my haste to replace this lockers powercells. I forgot to put that weapon and power cell away, sir."

Mike picked up the weapon with his right hand brought it over to the ensign, "make sure it doesn't happen again," he said in a stern voice. Mike wished he could write this man up for his carelessness, but he knew that it was the first day onboard and it wouldn't due to make himself look like a hardass on the very first day. He walked away from the ensign who returned to work and towards the torpedo launchers on the far side of the armory.

He looked at the large metal weapons, he smiled at how harmless they looked, like a large metal coffin with rounded end. But despite being so harmless they could hit an enemy ship with enough explosives to completely vaporize the vessel depending on its size. He smiled at the thought of blowing up something, _God i'm stereotypical,_ he thought. Oh well, love what you do.

* * *

Commander Kirsty McNeal sat at her station while starring off at the viewscreen. The image of the stars flying past the ship was almost hypnotizing in its beauty, Kristy frowned at how easily she was amazed by the effect the warp field created when they were traveling at warp. Especially, when they were traveling at high warp. Kristy shook off her amazement and looked down at the helm station. Lieutenant Sanchez was focused on monitoring the ships heading and scanning ahead of the ship as it sped forward at enormous speed.

She looked over at the ensign that had replaced the younger ensign from earlier this morning when the Captain was on approach in his shuttle pods. The ensign was in his early twenties and looked very young considering how much of the schooling he had taken to be given the job of communications officer. The man had thick brown hair and it was just at the point before regulation length. His eyes were a dark blue and his face was clean shaven despite his being in mid-east asia when they had recalled him.

"Commander, I think we've got a problem here," said Lieutenant Sanchez looking back at her. Her face had a look of genuine concern and she quickly looked back at her console.

Kristy got up quickly and walked down to her station, she leaned on her console and looked over Sanchez's shoulder. Her moniter displayed several sensor contacts aswell as the status of the warp field and engines. "What is it ensign?"

"Ma'am, I've got two sensor contacts bearing two eight zero and closing on us at warp five point three five. At first, I thought they were just going to pass us by, but they've been their for a good ten minutes now. They didn't start accelerating till now, I think we may have a problem."


End file.
